Marines take control in Iraq

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Promising to quash the insurgency and train
fledgling Iraqi forces to stand on their own, Camp Pendleton's I
Marine Expeditionary Force on Wednesday officially replaced the
Army in Iraq's troubled Al Anbar province.

During an hourlong ceremony at an American base near Fallujah,
Marine Lt. Gen. James Conway, commander of the Marine force,
assumed authority from Army Maj. Gen. Charles "Chuck" Swannack,
commander of the 3rd Brigade of the Army's 82nd Airborne
Division.

"We are certainly no strangers to Iraq," Conway said. "The
majority of my Marines and sailors were there when we crossed the
line of departure into the southern oil fields just over a year
ago."

Conway added that many of his 25,000 troops had been home from
Iraq for only five months before returning.

The ceremony included representatives from the U.S.-led
Coalition Provisional Authority, the new Iraqi security forces and
representatives from foreign militaries.

The Marines are expected to be in Iraq at least through
September, when they probably will be replaced by a similar-sized
force from the East Coast-based II Marine Expeditionary Force.

"If you talk to my Marines," Conway said, "they will tell you
that they believe in the mission, they believe in themselves, and
they believe they ought to be here."

Conway honored the service and sacrifice of the 19,000 soldiers
who have fought insurgents, rebuilt local infrastructure and helped
create new local and regional governments in the Wyoming-sized
province since September.

Swannack said relief and a ride home for him and his soldiers
couldn't have come too soon.

"I told everybody this morning that the helicopter isn't big
enough to carry my smile back down to Kuwait this afternoon,"
Swannack said when it came his turn to wish luck to the Marines as
he passed to them the responsibility for Al Anbar.

A volatile region

The Al Anbar province covers about one-third of Iraq and
includes borders with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria.

It also includes the volatile cities and towns just west of
Baghdad that are home to large numbers of former regime loyalists
and former Iraqi military, radical anti-American religious
communities and foreign fighters smuggled in from neighboring
countries.

The Army has lost at least 70 soldiers who were killed in action
in Al Anbar since September, including two soldiers who were killed
last weekend in a mortar attack on the same base where Wednesday's
ceremony was held.

In the last week, the Marines have lost five.

While the generals saluted each other's work and wished each
other well Wednesday, Marines from the nearby 2nd Battalion, 1st
Marine Regiment were already mixing it up with the enemy in
Fallujah on their first official day in charge.

Marines from one company survived a roadside bomb near town with
only two Marines suffering broken bones.

Another group countered a rocket attack and reportedly killed or
wounded at least two of the attackers.

Other patrols raced through town searching for insurgents who
have recently fired mortars at their base. Patrols were launched
throughout the day and night.

While he and other generals stressed maintaining the consent of
the Iraqi people, Conway said that the Marines aren't going to wait
to be attacked.

"We'll do what we have to do here," Conway said, promising that
the Marines would be aggressive against insurgents and cautious
with civilians.

Special recognition

The real stars of the day -- singled out by one American general
after another -- seemed to be the small groups of Iraqi security
forces.

The new forces, which include the police, the Iraqi Civil
Defense Corps, border police and facilities protection police, will
be left to fight the insurgency alone after the June 30 transfer of
political power to a new Iraqi government.

Conway compared them to the American Minutemen of the
Revolutionary War.

Swannack said the newly trained defense forces reached a turning
point when they stood to combat about 50 insurgents who attacked
the Fallujah police station and mayor's compound on Feb. 14,
killing at least 20 policemen.

"Iraq's brave new patriots acted valiantly that day," he said.
"The ICD forces fought off the attack on their compound and rushed
to the aid of their brother security forces at the police
station."

He said their response "served to convince me that Iraqis are
ready and willing to make the sacrifices necessary for freedom and
liberty."

Conway said the Marines will fight alongside the Iraqis until
they can stand on their own.

"When that day comes," Conway said, "we, like our brothers in
the 82nd, will say farewell to you and go home."

Staff writer Darrin Mortenson and staff photographer Hayne
Palmour are traveling with Camp Pendleton Marines as they return to
Iraq. Their coverage is collected at
www.nctimes.com/military/iraq.